Michigan Well Represented at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival with Nine Medals

Josh Smith
Kalamazoo Gazette


The full list of winners from today's beer competition at this year's Great American Beer Festival has just been released (of course, we've been following the live Twitter feed all afternoon).

We are very excited to report that Michigan breweries earned nine medals or 4% of the total awards.

The winners from the "Great Beer State" were:

Arcadia Brewing Co.	Cereal Killer Barleywine	MI	Gold	Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer
Bastone Brewery	Saison Du Bastone	MI	Bronze	French- and Belgian Style Saison
Bell's Brewery, Inc.	Bell's Lager Beer	MI	Bronze	Bohemian Style Pilsener
Big Rock Chop House & Brewery	Red Rock	MI	Silver	Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales	Bam Biere	MI	Bronze	Session Beer
Kuhnhenn Brewing Co.	4th Dementia Old Ale	MI	Bronze	Old Ale or Strong Ale
Redwood Brewing Co.	Cream Stout	MI	Silver	Sweet Stout
Shorts Brewing Co.	Bloody Beer	MI	Silver	Experimental Beer
Sullivan's Black Forest Brew Haus & Grill	Pirate's Porter	MI	Bronze	Robust Porter

Here are a few other highlights:

2009 Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards

Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year:
Coors Brewing Company, Golden, CO; Dr. David Ryder

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year:
Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD; Robert Malone

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year:
Dry Dock Brewing Company, Aurora, CO; Dry Dock Brewing Team

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year:
Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA; Pizza Port Brew Guys

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year:
Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA; Will Kemper

2009 Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition

Gold: Herbal Joe’s Columbarillo IPA, Chama River Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Brewmaster: Jeff Erway, AHA Member: Ben Miller

Silver: Alright Already Amber, O’Fallon Brewery, O’Fallon, MO
Brewmaster: Brian Owens, AHA Member: Jim Yeager

Bronze: Time of the Season, Upslope Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Brewmaster: Daniel Pages, AHA Member: Brian Patterson

The most competitive category was American Style India Pale Ale with 134 entries. The gold medal went to Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA for Union Jack for the second straight year.

The second most hotly contested category was Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer with 110 entries (up from 79 in 2008). The gold medal went to Arcadia Brewing Co., Battle Creek, MI for Cereal Killer Barleywine.